In traditional vehicular power door locks, door locking is limited to two different approaches when a lock request is made and a door or doors are open. The locking system either immediately locks all doors upon receipt of the operator lock request, or it locks all the doors following a time delay after the open door or doors are closed. Immediately locking all doors upon operator request is often an inconvenience if the driver or passenger of the vehicle needs to retrieve something (such as a child, a briefcase, etc.) from the vehicle and must open a closed door to do so. In this situation, a time delay between the closing of the door or doors and lock activation is much more advantageous than immediately activating the door locks
In a lock delay system, the length of the time delay following door closure, but prior to lock activation, may be preset to any duration. A long time delay is more convenient than a short time delay, giving passengers adequate time to open and close the vehicle's doors and retrieve objects before lock activation. On the other hand, a short time delay is more secure than a long time delay, making the vehicle less likely to be entered by an unauthorized user. The length of the time delay, which may be set at the factory, is not otherwise easily adjusted, however, and it currently cannot adapt to different users or uses. One driver of the vehicle may typically require no time delay, while another driver may typically need a very long delay. Additionally, in those situations in which the driver or passenger opens several doors, the current system does not change the delay between different door openings; the time delay (if any) is the same for each opening and closing. Even if the driver or passenger requires less time to open a second door than to open the first door, the preset locking system provides the same delay for each door opening.
Accordingly, a need exists for a vehicle locking system with adaptive actuation that tailors the time delay between door or doors closing and vehicle locking to individual drivers and situations. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.